Beauty in the Bounty

Seasonal beauty at the fair -

Through August and early September a rich seasonal peace pervaded the town.  It was the time of year when apples and peaches reddened and pears turned to gold on the fruit trees, when tomatoes grew scarlet in gardens and cucumbers waxed fat among the leaves.  Rich odors lay upon the still, warm air, for in every kitchen busy women, filled with satisfaction in the year's bounty and their own skill in availing themselves of it, boiled and stirred, seasoned and tested until their cellar shelves were filled with the fruits of their labors and rows of ruby and amber jellies sunned themselves upon the window sills.

-- Agnes Sligh Turnbull, The Gown of Glory